This invention relates to containers and is more particularly concerned with improvements in a receptacle which may be formed of paperboard and employed particularly for containing cigars or similar products.
Conventional containers for cigars have for many years been made of wood with a tray like bottom in which the cigars are positioned and a hinged cover, or lid, which may be held open to permit ready access to the contents of the tray. For economical reasons, many efforts have been made recently to develop a paperboard box which would have the form of the conventional wooden box for cigar products. While the designs which have been developed for such purpose have simulated the conventional wooden cigar boxes they have not been widely accepted commercially for a number of reasons, principally, because of a lack of rigidty in the walls and the failure to provide a blank which could be partially constructed for delivery to the packer in flattened condition and which would require only relatively simple machinery for set-up at the point of use.
In cigar box configurations, the top or lid area and the corresponding bottom area of the box are large in surface area in comparison to the box depth. Due to the broad expanse of these central areas, their center portions may undergo considerable flex since they do not have the structural rigidity of the smaller panels forming the cigar box sides. In the event of an impact in the central portion of either of these areas, they may flex sufficiently to damage the cigars contained within the box. Therefore, the top or lid, and the box bottom, should be formed of multiple plys or reinforced to protect the contents from possible damage to the cigars contained therein. In the present invention, the box top is formed of multiple plys for structural rigidity. Reinforcement of the box side walls, and the box bottom, is effected by a one piece insert which is cut and scored to be folded into a configuration for insertion into the box during erection. The one piece insert is secured therein against the inner side of the box bottom panel by a suitable adhesive, and adhesively secured between the inner and outer panels of the vertical sidewalls.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a paperboard box which embodies the essential features of conventional wooden cigar boxes and which can be economically manufactured from a printed blank so as to simulate such boxes when set-up and which is readily adapted for set-up at the packer or manufacturing site of the product to be marketed in the same.
It is a more particular object of the invention to provide a container in the form of a tray and a cover therefor which are made primarily from a one piece blank of a foldable sheet material, such as paperboard, and which may be set-up by the product manufacturer with simple machinery so as to obviate the need for shipping to the user containers which have been previously set-up and require substantial shipping and storage space.
It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a paperboard container for cigars, or like products, which can be economically manufactured and printed so as to simulate the wood boxes heretofore used by the cigar manufacturers.
It is another object of the invention to provide a container which is in the form of a tray with a hinged cover and which can be manufactured from a single one piece blank of foldable material, such as, paperboard, with the tray having a bottom wall, a pair of spaced side walls which extend upwardly from the bottom wall and are generally normal thereto, a rear wall and a front wall spaced from the rear wall with a lid or cover hinged to the rear wall and adapted to rest, when closed, on the top edge of the front wall and with certain of the walls and bottom being reinforced by inserts so as to provide adequate rigidity for protecting the contents during shipment and handling.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a container in the form of a tray with a planar lid hinged to a back wall thereof which is reinforced with multiple plys of the material and which tends to close when freed to do so but which may be readily held open to display the contents of the container.
The invention which is disclosed and claimed comprises a tray-like container with a planar lid hinged to the back wall which is formed from foldable sheet material, such as, paperboard, or the like, and which has certain of the walls and bottom stiffened by a reinforcing insert which is secured between inner and outer panels forming the walls of the tray.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more apparent upon consideration of the preferred forms of the tray construction which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like parts are identified by the same numerals throughout the views.